Kaduna Train Attack: 51 Phone Numbers On Passengers’ Manifest Unreachable—NRC

The Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation, Mr Fidet Okhiria on Monday said that about 51 phone numbers in the passengers’ manifest of the train that was attacked along Abuja-Kaduna railway have been unreachable since last Tuesday.

Terrorists had derailed the train en-route to Kaduna from Abuja on Monday night after it detonated an explosive along the Kateri-Rijana general area of the state.

The train with about 326 passengers was attacked and no fewer than eight people have been confirmed dead and 26 injured, the Kaduna Government had disclosed in a statement on Tuesday.

Notable among those that were injured are Muhammad Amin Mahmood, a Youth leader aspirant of the All Progressive Congress (APC) party; the former Deputy Governor, Zamfara Ibrahim Wakkala and Katsina Commissioner for Health, Nuhu Danja.

Unfortunately, Dr Chinelo Megafu a young dentist alongside seven others are among those that have been confirmed dead by the Kaduna Government, as of press time.

Giving an update on the incident, the NRC MD 146 out of the 362 passengers on the ill-fated Abuja-Kaduna train are unreachable six days after the train was attacked by terrorists.

He, however, said the number of safe passengers had risen to 186.

The NRC Boss said while 51 phone numbers on the manifest are either switched off or unreachable since Tuesday morning, 35 phone numbers on the manifest are ringing, but no response from the other end.

He also noted that 60 phone numbers on the manifest when called, responded non-existent.

The statement read, “51 phone numbers on the manifest are either switched off or have not been reachable since Tuesday morning and 35 phone numbers on the manifest are ringing, but no response from the other end. 60 phone numbers on the manifest when called, responded non-existent.

“The statement is aimed at updating Nigerians on the ongoing development regarding the clearing of the incident site (recovery of the rolling stock, repairs of the track) and status of Passengers that were onboard the AK9 train of Monday, March 28.

”Of the 362 validated passengers on board the attacked AK9 train service on March 28, 186 persons on the manifest are confirmed to be safe and at their various homes (additional 14 persons confirmed safe today).

“This brings the total number of recovered Coaches and safely moved to NRC Stations to be seven. Intensive work continues on track repairs. More concrete Sleepers were moved to site while some section of twisted tracks has been straightened.

”We remain grateful to the security agencies for all the support. We are very appreciative of Squadron Commander MOPOL 1 Kaduna’s visit to the accident site today.

“NRC will continue to update the general public of developments to prevent misleading information and falsehood.”